The rapid growth of cryptocurrencies in recent years has resulted in a number of law enforcement actions by several U.S. government agencies. These actions demonstrate U.S. regulators’ interest in investigating fraud and other activities, according to Latham & Watkins, a Los Angeles-based, U.S. law firm. To give the cryptocurrency industry an overview of what agencies are taking action and provide insight into how to meet the various regulations, the law firm has released a report, “Enforcement Trends in Cryptocurrency.” “No doubt, in the coming years, cyptocurrencies will face increasing scrutiny, and thus it behooves both businesses and legal practitioners to monitor […]

Airbitz, a mobile wallet that includes a location-based directory of companies that accept bitcoin, has officially announced a partnership with Fold, which will allow users to purchase Starbucks and Target gift cards at a discount directly inside the wallet.

Fold, which was launched in 2013, allowed users to purchase Starbucks cards at a 20 percent discount using bitcoin. While only Starbucks and Target are currently supported, Fold is looking to integrate Whole Foods, CVS, and Home Depot, according to a recent interview with Fold Founder Matt Luongo.

"We’ve also been looking at Walmart, CVS, and Home Depot," Luongo said. "The top 30 retailers in the U.S. are all in our sights.”

While the addition of Fold into the Airbitz ecosystem could be seen as a simple way to streamline the gift card exchange process, Airbitz CEO Paul Puey has a larger vision.

"Airbitz aims to secure digital assets across multiple applications, starting with our own," Puey said. " While we started with digital currencies, we're already securing login credentials with BitID. With the launch of the Fold integration, we're now securing gift cards, just a new type of digital asset.”

Fold is not the first company to resell unused gift cards – Raise, Cardpool and ABC Gift Cards all purchase and sell discounted gift cards online. Gyft, one of Fold's main competitors, accepts bitcoin as well. Samsung even released an update for its Samsung Pay app last week that allows users to purchase "50 popular merchant gift cards" directly in the app for face value.

However, by integrating Fold's service directly into the Airbitz mobile wallet, both companies are hoping to reduce friction and streamline the process for their users.

But as these services become more popular, some websites are beginning to crack down on the sale of gift cards as they can serve as a way to launder money from stolen credit cards.

Bitify, an Australian bitcoin and litecoin marketplace, recently banned the sale of all digital gift cards as some buyers "claimed that [the gift cards were] purchased with stolen credit cards."

Fold says it has put in place preventive measures to deter the resale of illegally obtained gift cards.

"We've built a best-in-class fraud prevention system to protect ourselves and our customers," said Luongo.

This partnership has been in the works since the beginning of 2015 when both Airbitz and Fold were participating in accelerators in Silicon Valley (Plug and Play and Boost VC, respectively).

“ I’ve been promoting Fold since 2014 when almost no one had heard of the service,”said Puey.

Airbitz is available for free on both iOS and Android. To take advantage of this new partnership, create an Airbitz wallet and navigate to the 'More' tab bar on the bottom of the screen. From there, choose the "Buy/Sell Bitcoin" option and select which retailer's gift card you'd like to purchase. Load up your bitcoin, swipe to send, and a preloaded barcode will appear, which you can scan at checkout.

Fold works at any location that accepts U.S. gift cards. This includes Canada, Mexico, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Macau and Spain, according to their website.

Airbitz, a mobile wallet that includes a location-based directory of companies that accept bitcoin, has officially announced a partnership with Fold, which will allow users to purchase Starbucks and Target gift cards at a discount directly inside the wallet.

Fold, which was launched in 2013, allowed users to purchase Starbucks cards at a 20 percent discount using bitcoin. While only Starbucks and Target are currently supported, Fold is looking to integrate Whole Foods, CVS, and Home Depot, according to a recent interview with Fold Founder Matt Luongo.

"We’ve also been looking at Walmart, CVS, and Home Depot," Luongo said. "The top 30 retailers in the U.S. are all in our sights.”

While the addition of Fold into the Airbitz ecosystem could be seen as a simple way to streamline the gift card exchange process, Airbitz CEO Paul Puey has a larger vision.

"Airbitz aims to secure digital assets across multiple applications, starting with our own," Puey said. " While we started with digital currencies, we're already securing login credentials with BitID. With the launch of the Fold integration, we're now securing gift cards, just a new type of digital asset.”

Fold is not the first company to resell unused gift cards – Raise, Cardpool and ABC Gift Cards all purchase and sell discounted gift cards online. Gyft, one of Fold's main competitors, accepts bitcoin as well. Samsung even released an update for its Samsung Pay app last week that allows users to purchase "50 popular merchant gift cards" directly in the app for face value.

However, by integrating Fold's service directly into the Airbitz mobile wallet, both companies are hoping to reduce friction and streamline the process for their users.

But as these services become more popular, some websites are beginning to crack down on the sale of gift cards as they can serve as a way to launder money from stolen credit cards.

Bitify, an Australian bitcoin and litecoin marketplace, recently banned the sale of all digital gift cards as some buyers "claimed that [the gift cards were] purchased with stolen credit cards."

Fold says it has put in place preventive measures to deter the resale of illegally obtained gift cards.

"We've built a best-in-class fraud prevention system to protect ourselves and our customers," said Luongo.

This partnership has been in the works since the beginning of 2015 when both Airbitz and Fold were participating in accelerators in Silicon Valley (Plug and Play and Boost VC, respectively).

“ I’ve been promoting Fold since 2014 when almost no one had heard of the service,”said Puey.

Airbitz is available for free on both iOS and Android. To take advantage of this new partnership, create an Airbitz wallet and navigate to the 'More' tab bar on the bottom of the screen. From there, choose the "Buy/Sell Bitcoin" option and select which retailer's gift card you'd like to purchase. Load up your bitcoin, swipe to send, and a preloaded barcode will appear, which you can scan at checkout.

Fold works at any location that accepts U.S. gift cards. This includes Canada, Mexico, Australia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Great Britain, Macau and Spain, according to their website.

Bitcoin price continues pushing higher in cautious but optimistic trade. Leading into major economic events, it is often prudent to stay out of the market. This analysis is provided by xbt.social with a 3-hour delay. Read the full analysis here. Not a member? Join now and receive a $29 discount using the code CCN29. Bitcoin Price Analysis Time of analysis: 14h30 UTC BTCC 4-Hour Chart From the analysis pages of xbt.social, earlier today: The 4hr chart, although slow and applicable over days and weeks, is looking bullish. The 20- and 200-period moving averages are ascending, and price is trading above […]

In light of the recent attacks in Paris that led to the deaths of 129 Parisians, the European Union (EU) and other international powers, including the United States and Russia, have been gathering to discuss how to curb the threats of terrorism, specifically ISIS or ISIL. Being mentioned in those discussions is the controversial topic of virtual currency with an emphasis on Bitcoin and its role in terrorism financing. But why are government officials so afraid of Bitcoin as a possible avenue for terrorist “donations”?

Digital payments can deliver better immediacy and ubiquity than traditional retail payment systems and, therefore, could revolutionize payments, according to a recent Deutsche Bank research paper. The paper, titled “Instant revolution or payments? The quest for real-time payments,” recognizes bitcoin and the blockchain as playing an important role in payment technology as the need for real-time payments expands. In tackling the complex topic of instant payments, the paper reviews the different definitions of instant payments and establishes what it considers a good working definition. The European Central Bank (ECB), for instance, defines an instant payment as the real-time crediting of […]

Bitcoin Press Release: Bitcoin has taken the gambling world by storm as an instantaneous, anonymous, speedy way of getting money in and out of online casino accounts. The result has been an explosion in the number of online casinos targeted exclusively at Bitcoin users. As competition hots up in this niche, Bitcoin casinos are starting to offer tempting bonuses that are increasingly on a par with what’s available in traditional online casinos. Since its arrival on the scene in 2009, Bitcoin has been making waves throughout the financial world as people worldwide started to explore its unique combination of speed, […]

Jenkins' argument rests on the rise of fintech — financial technology — startups who do things like payments, lending, and investments in a smarter, cheaper, and often faster way.

Jenkins believes fintech startups will "disrupt" financial services in the same way that Uber has disrupted the taxi industry. That will squeeze profit margins, forcing banks to cut staff, and also force them to compete on technology, another change that will reduce headcount.

Digital transformation could also be a driver of further headcount reduction longer term, with retail banks cutting branches in favour of online services and investment banks cutting back offices in favour of online technologies such as blockchain.

Blockchain is the software that underpins bitcoin and uses complex cryptography to allow transactions between strangers to take place without the need for a trusted intermediary such as a bank or clearing house.

But while technology looks like it could be a huge driver of layoffs in the future, right now it's actually a relatively minor factor. A bigger contributor to the 100,000 jobs cut this year in the increasingly regulatory burden big banks face around the world and low-interest rates hitting client activity.

Minnesota’s commerce commissioner has warned consumers in his state to be wary of bitcoin despite no reported bitcoin-related problems, according to Minneapolis The Star Tribune. The warning marks the third U.S. state regulator in a month to issue such a warning. Mike Rothman, the Minnesota commissioner, acknowledged that legitimate businesses are using bitcoin and developing legitimate uses for it to buy and sell goods. He also says there are no reports in Minnesota of consumers being scammed with bitcoin. He nonetheless warns there is a dark side to bitcoin and since it’s not backed by a government or a bank, there […]